Alph
| gender = Female | species = Familiar (animal form::Mid-Childan wolf) | homeworld = origin::residence::Mid-Childa | born = 0063 (created) Officially: 0049Nanoha Website | relatives = Fate Testarossa (creator) | occupation = Familiar | affiliations = Project Fate (TOS) | magic_system = magic system::Mid-Childa | name_ja = アルフ | name_romaji = Arufu | first = | voices = (Japanese) Lauren Landa (English) }} Arf (アルフ, Arufu) is a character in the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series. She does not appear in Triangle Heart. She is voiced by . Arf is a and the is a::familiar of master::Fate Testarossa, whom she strives to protect. Her name has also been romanized as Alph. Arf in Nanoha Arf makes her first appearance in episode 4, in residence::Uminari City with Fate in search of Jewel Seeds. She then appears in episode 5, establishing herself as a familiar that can shapeshift between human, wolf-woman, and a fearsome red wolf. Arf appears at Uminari Onsen in human form, threatening Nanoha telepathically, and Alisa Bannings takes an instant dislike to her. In their battles, Arf keeps Yūno busy while Fate fights Nanoha. Arf lives with Fate in an apartment on Earth, and uses::teleports to their other home in Precia's hideout, the residence::Garden of Time. Arf tries to tell Fate that her mother's abuse isn't right, but Fate refuses to listen and keeps coming back. As revealed in Sound Stage 02, in her previous, animal life, Arf was a puppy in a wolf pack living high in the mountains of Mid-Childa. When she was still young, she contacted an unidentified but deadly decease and was cast out from the pack to avoid infecting other members. It was then that she was found by Fate, who was at the time (0063) living in the vicinity with her mother. Identifying with the dying outcast puppy, Fate begged Rinis to save its life and together they have extracted Arf's soul from her dying body and infused it into a magical one sustained by Fate's mana, thus making Arf her familiar. Although Fate later granted Arf full freedom by making the terms of her contract to live as she wished, Arf swore to dedicate her existence to protecting Fate as part of their contract. Late in the series, Arf finally strikes out at Precia, and is thrown out as "useless". She comes to residence::Earth, injured, and is taken home by the dog-loving Alisa Bannings. Joining forces with Nanoha, Arf resolves to help Fate to see reason. While Fate finally starts to question her mother's motives, as Arf has always been there for her, she still refuses to join Nanoha and accepts her challenge to a winner-takes-all battle for the Jewel Seeds. Arf stands on the sidelines, worrying for Fate's safety, up until Fate is sent into a state of shock by the revelation that she is a clone of Alicia Testarossa, Precia's original daughter. Arf watches over Fate until she feels that Nanoha, Chrono, Lindy Harlaown and Yūno will need her, and leaves to help them. Fate joins up with the group later, and almost shares her mother's end in the collapse of the Garden of Time; Arf tries to help her, but fails, and Nanoha saves Fate. Arf is moved to tears by Nanoha's expression of friendship to Fate. Arf and Fate are arrested for their part in Precia's crimes, but will almost certainly be declared innocent. Arf in A's In appears in::A's, Fate and Arf join the member of::Time-Space Administration Bureau and go to Earth to team up with Nanoha again. Their new mission is to prevent the Wolkenritter from stealing mages' Linker Cores for their Book of Darkness. Arf, now needing to blend in with the populace rather than scare them, exchanges her wolven form for that of a cute puppy, whom Alisa adores. Arf is now relegated to backup with Yūno, always fighting Zafira, who also has wolf ears and a wolflike form. Arf appears in the dream that Fate is trapped in by the Book of Darkness, as the pet of the Testarossa family; this is not the "real" Arf, but as much a construction of Fate's mind as the dream's versions of Precia, Rinis and Alicia. The real Arf also comes to join the fight against the automated defense program of the Book. In an epilogue taking place six years later, Arf lives in the Harlaown household with Fate, presumably Chrono, and the retired Lindy. She has also become part of the Harlaown family, and also addresses Lindy as she would a mother. She has taught Zafira the skill to change his wolf form to a puppy form. Arf in StrikerS In the second Megami Sound Stage, it is revealed that Arf resigned from the TSAB about six years after A's, after talking with Fate and coming to understand that Fate is strong enough to fight alone. She lives on Earth, helping look after Amy and Chrono's children, and also sometimes spends time with Erio and Caro. In the first Sound Stage, she meets Subaru and Teana when Hayate, the Wolkenritter except Zafira, and the Stars and Lightning Team come to Earth. In the second Sound Stage, Erio and Caro contact Arf on Subaru and Teana's advice, after wondering what they can do about Fate worrying about them. Arf tells them that Fate worries about them, and wants them to be able to trust her and tell her their problems. In appears in::StrikerS episode 23, Arf is shown as a kid helping Yuuno with his research and standing up for Fate saying that they should trust her more, she is strong and that she has faith in her. Fate and Arf are just as close as in the previous series. Her role in StrikerS is smaller than the previous ones. She seems to be affiliated with the member of::Infinity Library. Arf in the manga The ongoing StrikerS manga series occurs six years after the events of A'sStated specifically in Issue 1, page 5. and four years before the events of the StrikerS anime seriesStated specifically at the end of Issue 3. In it, Arf uses a smaller and much younger-seeming human and wolf form than in the anime. She tells Yūno that she did so to reduce the amount of magical energy she draws from Fate. Arf also says that Fate is strong enough not to need her in combat, so she has changed her role more to supporting Fate in other ways, such as doing chores, and helping Fate's mother and friends.StrikerS manga, Issue 1, pages 10-11. Powers Barrier Jacket Arf's Barrier Jacket in humanoid form is a skimpy white top and pink short-shorts with a black cape, red belt-like garters, black gloves and black shoes, emulating Fate's own outfit. Similarly to Yūno's Jacket, she only uses her cape in combat situations. In A's, her Jacket is upgraded, giving her armored gloves and boots and thus increasing her hand-to-hand combat capability. Shapeshifting As a familiar, Arf is capable of uses::shapeshifting and can become a shape::human, shape::wolf-woman, imposing shape::red wolf-like creature, or shape::puppy. Spells As a familiar, Arf can theoretically cast every spell her master Fate knows. Arf typically fights hand-to-hand as a human, or with her fangs and claws as a wolf, but has some binding and bombardment spells. Notes and references Category:Characters